Animals in Literature

 

Today is Groundhog Day, a unusual North American holiday where we make weather predictions based on the observations of a big rodent we tend to try and exterminate any other day of the year. As strange at it is, it's not the first time we have used animals to represent our beliefs, i.e. the Easter Bunny and Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. Animals have always been an important part of human society, and that extends to our myths, superstitions, and even our religions Animals have been our food, our companions, our mode of transportation, and our livelihood. They've been our gods, heroes, sidekicks, and adversaries. Even if you don't eat meat or keep pets, it's undeniable that human culture would not survive without them. It only makes sense that we would personify them and insert them into our literature over the years.

Most of us were introduced to animals really young, whether we had pets or not. They are often personified in children's books and shows to keep their attention and teach them a few things at the same time. Even earlier than that, a lot of toddler age kids had animals teaching them through flashcards, puzzles, and other toys. Some of the earliest books I remember reading as a kid were about animals, such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

It didn't stop at childhood either. Many books geared more toward young adults and teenagers, like the Warriors series or Harry Potter, featured animals as main characters. A lot of novels have human characters with animal-like characteristics or shape-shifting capabilities. The horror genre loves to use animals. From the undead cat, Church in Pet Sematary, to the cloned dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. Fantasy likes to use them as sidekicks, mounts, and even wise teachers, like Baloo and Bageera in The Jungle Book.

We owe a lot of our best works to the animal kingdom. Whether we depict them realistically or turn them into talking magical creatures, if it weren't for animals, we wouldn't have some of the great books, paintings, games, movies, TV shows, and yes, holidays that we have today. So this Groundhog Day, say thanks to the little guy for his contribution to our culture...whether he sees his shadow or not.

Stay Weird.